Witness in Miramar corruption case may be brought in from Saudi Arabia

As former Miramar City Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman's public corruption trial draws near, his attorney wants an undercover witness who spent years working on the investigation to be flown in from Saudi Arabia to testify about alleged government misconduct in the case.

Salesman's defense lawyer also wants prosecutors to reveal how much investigators paid the witness, Patrick "Pat" Lochrie, and details of any other benefits he received or may still reap.

"Numerous reviewed tapes contain Mr. Lochrie persuading, cajoling, insisting and arguing in meetings with [Salesman] covering a span of several years of recordings," attorney Jamie Benjamin wrote in court filings Thursday.

The tapes, which have not been made public, include a secretly recorded breakfast meeting with Salesman, Lochrie and an undercover agent at a Miramar IHOP restaurant in February 2004, Benjamin wrote.

Lochrie is a native of Ireland who ran several Fort Lauderdale businesses, some of which were used as fronts by FBI agents in their sting operations. He previously worked on an undercover investigation of an Arkansas drug research company in 2006, according to court records.

Lochrie claims to have spent the past nine months working 17-hour days in Saudi Arabia, and attending a meeting with His Royal Highness "Prince AbdulAziz of the Defence Ministry," according to e-mails Lochrie sent to Benjamin in the past few days.

The signature tag on Lochrie's e-mail reads in part "Do the right thing because it is right" and "Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching."

Lochrie could not be reached for comment on his cell phone or by e-mail late Thursday.

Prosecutors declined to comment, but in a court filing they said that they did not have to reveal how much Lochrie was paid because they don't plan to have him testify.

They also wrote that Lochrie met with Salesman maybe 14 times, that every meeting was recorded and that copies were given to the defense. Those meetings always included undercover FBI agents who are available to testify, prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors refer to Lochrie only as "Confidential Informant 1," who was pretending to be a money manager working for a construction firm that was trying to get city contracts.

Prosecutors revealed in another case that Lochrie received $12,750 from the FBI for his work in the case against Joel Williams, a co-defendant in the money-laundering case against former Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion. The money was for work done on the Williams case between April 2005 and April 2007. Williams has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

Lochrie also took part in the investigation of Eggelletion, who pleaded guilty, but it was not publicly revealed how much he was paid.

Salesman is charged with two counts each of bribery, extortion and honest services wire fraud. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin March 22.

In Thursday's court filing, the defense hinted it may accuse the authorities of "outrageous governmental misconduct" and allege that Salesman was entrapped by the undercover agents and Lochrie.